Schools · Waco
Waco, TX schools
Kids attend one of 16 schools through grade 8, then one of 5 middle schools and Midway H S or Waco H S or University H S.
Grades, test scores, graduation, spending and every school, from U.S. Department of Education data.
TownTapestry School GradeNew
C+
Waco’s School Grade: C+
The public schools Waco’s kids attend, from kindergarten through graduation, trail 61% of Texas’s districts on state tests and graduation. Among towns with similar incomes, they sit near the middle.
B-Test scoresD-Graduation
Texas school districts we grade (1,185)Better than 39%
Lower resultsHigher results
Texas towns with similar household incomes (677)Better than 40%
High confidence. Built on 11,071 tested students and a graduating class of 1,050; ordinary year-to-year swings are unlikely to change the grade.
How the School Grade works
- Results, not inputs. Math and reading proficiency on Texas’s state tests, each against the state average, plus the four-year graduation rate. Spending and class size are shown below but don’t count toward the grade. Tests: 2020–21; graduation: class of 2019.
- The whole path. A town’s grade follows its kids: every district that serves it, weighted by the number of students tested in each. Tests count 60% and graduation 40%.
- Graded within the state. Each state writes its own tests, so districts are lined up against the rest of Texas only. A+ top 5%A next 10%A- next 10%B B+ to B−, next 30%C C+ to C−, next 30%D D and D−, bottom 15%
- Individual schools are graded the same way on their own test results, against every public school in Texas with 25+ students. Private schools aren’t graded: they don’t take the state tests.
- What a grade can’t tell you. Test results track family income closely, so a high grade partly reflects who lives in a town. That’s why we also compare towns with similar incomes. Visit, ask other parents, and read neighbor reviews. It’s our own summary of U.S. Department of Education data, not an official rating.
School path
Where Waco kids go to school
Grades 9–12
AMidway H S or CWaco H S or B-University H S
Depends on your address Midway Independent School DistrictBased on district boundaries from the U.S. Department of Education. Check with the district before you enroll.
Test scores · 2020–21
State test results
Math (grades PK–8, Waco Independent)20%
State average 36.5%
Math (grades 9–12, Midway Independent)61%
State average 36.5%
Graduation · class of 2019
78% graduate on time
Graduation rate
78%
TX: 90.2%
Graduating class
1,050
students
The share of students who started ninth grade together and earned a regular diploma within four years.
Districts
Two districts serve Waco
Waco Independent School DistrictGrades PK–12 · 23 schools · 13,376 students
$14,400 per studentTX $12,815DMidway Independent School DistrictGrades PK–12 · 12 schools · 8,824 students
$10,856 per studentTX $12,815AEach district’s own page has its spending, test scores, enrollment and every school.
Colleges
Waco is home to 3 colleges
Baylor UniversityUniversity or college · Private nonprofit · Waco17,651on campusTexas State Technical CollegeCommunity college · Public · Waco7,673on campusMcLennan Community CollegeCommunity college · Public · Waco4,298on campus
All 3 colleges in Waco →Every school
All 60 schools in Waco
Showing 1–30 of 60 schools
Bell's Hill ElElementary · Grades PK–5 · 786 students
C+PublicLake Air Montessori SchoolElementary · Grades PK–8 · 734 students
CPublicDean Highland ElElementary · Grades PK–5 · 617 students
DPublicHarmony Science Acad (WACO)Elementary · Grades PK–5 · 569 students
DCharterChapel Park ElElementary · Grades PK–5 · 532 students
PublicParkdale ElElementary · Grades PK–5 · 497 students
DPublicSouth Waco ElElementary · Grades PK–5 · 490 students
DPublicAlta Vista ElElementary · Grades PK–5 · 479 students
D-PublicCrestview ElElementary · Grades PK–5 · 464 students
DPublicCedar Ridge ElElementary · Grades PK–5 · 446 students
DPublicKendrick ElElementary · Grades PK–5 · 446 students
DPublicHillcrest PDS MagnetElementary · Grades PK–5 · 431 students
C+PublicAudre and Bernard Rapoport AcademyElementary · Grades PK–4 · 396 students
DCharterProvident Heights ElElementary · Grades PK–5 · 383 students
C-PublicJ H Hines ElElementary · Grades PK–5 · 379 students
D-PublicBrook Avenue ElElementary · Grades PK–5 · 356 students
D-PublicMountainview ElElementary · Grades PK–5 · 349 students
DPublicWest Avenue ElElementary · Grades PK–5 · 249 students
DPublicSt. Pauls Episcopal Day SchoolElementary · Grades PK–6 · 245 students
PrivateWaco Montessori SchoolElementary · Grades PK–5 · 205 students
PrivateTennyson MiddleMiddle · Grades 6–8 · 963 students
C+PublicRiver Valley MiddleMiddle · Grades 6–8 · 902 students
PublicCesar Chavez MiddleMiddle · Grades 6–8 · 786 students
C-PublicG W Carver MiddleMiddle · Grades 6–8 · 723 students
DPublicChina Spring IntMiddle · Grades 5–6 · 491 students
APublicLa Vega J H George Dixon CampusMiddle · Grades 7–8 · 441 students
CPublicQuinn Campus Public MiddleMiddle · Grades 5–8 · 269 students
CCharterBill Logue Detention CenterSecondary · Grades 7–11 · 11 students
PublicChallenge AcademySecondary · Grades 11 · 2 students
PublicChallenge AcademySecondary · Grades 8–9 · 2 students
PublicSchool data from the U.S. Department of Education (NCES). Ratings are from neighbors on TownTapestry.